A/N: Hey guys Henderschmidt11 here with another...one-shot. For those who are reading my story "A New Dimension" I have been working on it just not recently. I have finished a third of it so far and will try to get it up ASAP. And for those who don't know what I'm talking about...HEY! PS. Props to my sister for coming up with the title! Hope you enjoy!
~ * ~ Off-tracks ~ * ~
"Ok!" Matt heavily breathes out, gathering around his small group of friends, "What do ya'll want to do now?" Matt and his friends Jerome, Mitch, and Louise, Jerome's girlfriend, were at the biggest amusement park in Los Angelis, California, trying to figure out what to do next. To them it felt like they have ridden every single ride in the park! It certainly was the most perfect way to spend a weekend night. Suddenly…Mitchell had a skeptical almost an evil look on his face, as he raised an eye brow at the group.
"Why don't we go on that one?" Mitch asks, pointing to a huge rollercoaster behind them. The three remaining companions turned simultaneously to take a glance at the huge structure. Screams of happiness and horror varied from deeper voices to high-pitched ones as one of the linked carts zoomed down from a high drop and up again. By this time, Mitch was rubbing his hands together in excitement; Matt was looking at Mitch like he had gone crazy; Jerome was staring at the thing with a clear questionable look; and Louise looked at it like it was nothing.
"Sure, let's do it!" Louise cheerily replies, turning to face Mitch, "It's been a while since I got so much adrenaline at a time."
"Alrighty then," Mitch's smile widens, "Last one to the line is a dirty stinkin' bacca!" And with that, Mitch and Louise took off, both screaming at each other that they're going to get there first. Jerome and Matt stayed at their locations, looking at each other with the same worried looks, but soon started walking to the ride.
"Ooh…that was a close call," Louise inhales and exhales a breath through her teeth, "What do you think Mitch?"
"I think Matt and Jerome should both be called…the dirty stinkin' baccas. Sorry I'm not sorry, G's." Mitch playfully laughs with the two guys, as Mitch lightly punches Jerome's left arm.
"Ha, whatever," Jerome's laugh turned into a little nervous one, as the line continued forward. Mitch, Matt, and Louise played a, what felt like forever, game of 'I Spy' while Jerome studied the rollercoaster just a few yards away from him.
"Hmm…with the insane height of the tallest slope up and with the miles per hour down the-aw, screw algebra problems," Jerome mutters to himself with Mitch's bragging being heard in the background. 'How could I have been sucked into this?' Jerome thought over and over again.
Jerome's nerves got more to him, as each minute in that line passed by. Not even Louise's cute giggles could get the bacca's mind off of this…monster, as Jerome saw the next ten minutes pass by, the foursome got to the inside of the building where the line looked a little less than another ten minutes. Boy, did that really excite Jerome.
"Oh dear Neptune," Jerome slaps his hand onto his forehead, reading over the safety rules. There was the usual 'keep your hands, arms, feet, and legs inside the coaster at all times and blah, blah, blah.' But what caught Jerome's attention were the rider's required standers. You were supposed to be in good health, weren't expecting, didn't have motion sickness or a fear of heights, and were to meet the height requirements of…fifty-four inches. Most rides are usually forty-eight inches right?!
"What? You have a fear of heights or something?" Matt asks, skimming through the nailed sign to a pole nearing the loading and dropping-off area.
"A second thought, yes, I do," Jerome responds in a matter-a-fact tone.
"Come on Jerome; don't want to be a big baby, especially in front of your girlfriend," Mitch says, whispering the last part in Jerome's ear, "Besides, we're almost there, and by the end of this, you just might like this. Then I get to say 'I told you so'."
"Ha. You wish."
~~~The rollercoaster ride pulls up…~~~
'He surely won't get his wish alright' Jerome nervously thinks to himself while unconsciously grinding his teeth. He was just glad for one thing that each cart holds two people so his girlfriend could hold him close. To make things more 'enjoyable', Jerome and Louise were sitting in the front.
"Don't worry, Jerome," Louise comfortingly rubs Jerome's right arm, "I'll never let you go, ok?"
"Ok," Jerome nods, cracking a smile. Louise smiles back, as she and Jerome pull down the safety bar. Jerome double checks to see if it was secure while Louise sets her small purse in the pouch in front for her. The ride then smoothly starts with the exception of the small jerk at the beginning.
"I'll try not to scream in your ear," Louise chuckles after the first turn and it slowly rises up for its first long drop down.
"I'll try not to in yours," was Jerome's muttered response, as he took a tiny peek down…he shouldn't have done that. Jerome's head jerked back up as he tightly gripped the leather-covered bar in front of him, cursing every second he got.
"Hey Jerome, get a good hold of yourself," Mitch pats Jerome's shoulder, making the bacca jump in his seat, "Cause it's gonna get crazy!" And right as the rollercoaster reached the top…it stopped, and a gun shot was heard. At least Jerome thought…
Screams from below and on the coaster became louder and was very clear to Jerome, as his mind focus on that. He then took the dare to look down again, but saw no one. And the screams…they stopped just as his head peered down. There was no one below him anywhere. Jerome's eyes widen then turned back to look at his friends and found them unconscious. One bullet, the shot fired, had gone through Mitchell's head, his friends along with the other people on the ride behind him were sitting unconscious in their seats, including his girlfriend.
"Mitch…M-Matt…L-Louise?" Jerome turns to each of his friends, as he said their names, "Oh my god, Louise? Louise wake up please," Jerome begs, shaking Louise more and more each time. After half a second had gone by, Jerome had stopped trying to wake up Louise and was now hyperventilating.
"What the hell is going on?!" Jerome yells not caring if anyone could hear, not that anyone would even with this height up, "I have to get out of here." Jerome starts yanking onto the safety bar, but of course it was locked shut. As he continued doing so like the bar would lift up any second, the rollercoaster…started moving. The slightest move of the cart caught Jerome's attention, and he froze facing forward. Holding onto the safety bar for dear life, Jerome screamed down the slope but caught his breath once it was over.
Even with the rollercoaster going at high speeds, Jerome was still trying to find a way off the death machine, is what Jerome thought of the ride at this point and probably for the rest of his life. In less than two minutes, the ride has completed its round and was approaching the drop-off station. Jerome's nerves calmed but were up and about again, as the rollercoaster was automatically going for another round. The tension-filled slope to the top was starting again, but this time it was smoother. Jerome hadn't really adjusted to the rollercoaster but has become more aware what came next. He still screamed down each slope and kept looking back at his friends. This time he noticed that…it was just his friends with him on the rollercoaster.
Soon enough the ride slowed down to a stop again, this time once they were just finishing the only upside down loop on the ride. It had stopped not upside down but to where Jerome was facing forward after the loop had taken place. Jerome let out somewhat of a sigh of relief once the coaster had come to a halt yet again.
"Ok, there must be something to slip me out of this bar…" Jerome talks to himself, carefully taking out Louise's purse. Jerome took a sharp inhale, as some of Louise's things (such as her lipstick; wallet; and, unfortunately, her phone) fall down to the rough pavement below him. The sound of the various items' clank faintly rang in his ears.
After a few moments of complete shock, Jerome set the purse between his feet and took off his hoodie, letting it drop down with his girlfriend's other items. He was now left with his plain white shirt, jeans and sneakers on, as he took another few seconds staring down into, to Jerome, what seemed like a bottomless pit when it was only about a five-story drop.
Jerome shook his head, getting back into focus of what he was previously doing. Jerome patted his pockets and groaned, failing to find his phone on him. He let out another deep breath, as he took the purse with whatever was left in it into his hands. Jerome just then remembered that his girlfriend had brought…
"Hand lotion," Jerome mutters, getting a firm grip on the bottle, "Crossing fingers this works." Jerome bit him bottom lip, as he un-screwed the container. He squeezed out a good portion of it and slathered it onto the locked-shut safety bar, then wiped the rest off onto his shirt around his stomach area. Right as he was about to push down on the bar to get himself out, he had immediately accomplished that, as the bar fell off like it had magically rusted and broke off.
Jerome screamed all the way down until his right hand got a grip of the rollercoaster's railing below him, which was now technically above him by a few inches. He then heard something crash below him…and he looked up. Trying not to let his emotions get to him, Jerome couldn't bring himself to look down. He could only longingly watch Matt and Mitch, still tucked between and safety bar and the seats in the row behind him. Jerome, once caught in his flashbacks, soon realized that he had been slipping the entire time and was down to his fingertips. He had forgotten about the lotion!
Words couldn't come out of his mouth as he used up the last bit of his strength…and it was gone. Jerome only clenched his jaw and was tightly closing his eyes, seeing that he was freely falling face down. Right as he was about to collide with the pavement, he-
"Louise!" Jerome screams panting, taking in as much oxygen as his lungs could take.
"Oh my gosh, Jerome," I familiar voice sounds through the bacca's ears, "What's wrong? Ar-are you ok?" Suddenly Jerome felt comforting arms wrap around his stiff ones. Jerome blinked a few times, seeing several pairs of eyes glued on him. 'Did that really just happen…?'
"Dude, are you ok? Do you want me to drive you back to the house?" a deeper voice asks this time with as much concern as the other.
"Wh…where are we, Mitch?" Jerome asks in pure confusion but with relief at the same time.
"We just arrived at the amusement park," Mitch cautiously replies, adjusting himself in his seat to where he was facing Jerome, "Louise was about to wake you up when you yelled her name. What happened, Jerome?"
"Yeah…what happened?" Louise's muffled voice softly questions through Jerome's hoodie. Jerome took a good look at Matt and Mitch before he looked down at Louise and wrapped and arm around her.
"Let's just say…my imagination went a bit too far…"
A/N: I know my imagination went a bit too far too, Jerome. Did I, readers? Yes, you, reading this. This was just a drabble I made in two hours time, so sorry if it's...not what you expected. I also have no idea why I picked Jerome for this but whatever...PEACE!
~Henderschmidt11
